> Trump, who is the President (not VP), meets regularly with all sorts of people who spend money at his resort and other businesses and no one cares about that.

I hear people (rightly) complain about this all the time.

> Can someone explain why it even matters.

I think it matters because Joe has denied any participation at all with his sons business dealings. The emails explicitly mention using influence, buying time with the VP, etc. If the emails are real, they would prove joe a liar.

You could say "but Trump is a liar" and you'd be right. You'd also be openly admitting that Joe is no better.

> You'd also be openly admitting that Joe is no better.

Nah. Everyone lies from time to time, or bends the truth to make themselves look better. Frequency and magnitude are the important factors.

Also, Joe could have had dinner with this guy and still never talked with his son deeply about work. Joe having eaten with this dude would call into question his claim, but it wouldn't be proof he was telling a falsehood.

However, it sure does look a little questionable.

I don’t know why we give politicians the benefit of the doubt. You and I knew that CGI was a pay for play scheme before the emails confirmed it. We also know that nobody pays a crackhead son of the VP of the US with zero industry or qualifying professional experience $50k/mo. without expecting something in return that said cracky is uniquely positioned to deliver.

For the record, I don’t hate crackheads. Also, yeah this cynicism goes for Trump too. It should be how we regard all politicians, as the profession overwhelmingly shows a high preponderance towards deceit, graft, rent-seeking, kickbacks, etc.

> I hear people (rightly) complain about this all the time.

Sure, and you can complain, but Trump has already called for Biden and even Obama to be jailed. I could see this turning into "lock him up" chants in a few days.

> Joe has denied any participation at all with his sons business dealings

Having dinner with someone doesn't imply that. If there was anything actionable that came out of that meeting, then yes, but there's no proof of that. Just having dinner with someone proves nothing.